Words of Encouragement
from Fr. Peter
This past Sunday was Trinity Sunday. After going to church at home with my family, and after our coffee hour over Zoom, I fetched a ewer and a basin, a white stole, some consecrated oil, my Bible, and my prayer book, and I headed to the front yard of Trey and Jordan Sanders. The family gathered beneath the boughs of a tree and I baptized their daughter Blaise Catherine, the newest member of our parish, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
The next day, a few parishioners, staff, and the clergy hauled tables and coolers filled to the brim with ice and bottled water from the church to the street. We painted signs and banners to show solidarity and support for the marchers who were traveling down Wydown from Hanley to Skinker chanting, and kneeling, and marching for a more just and equitable world. As the marchers approached we could hear their footsteps; the cadence of hope. We listened as their chants grew louder and louder, a voice for the voiceless, a prayer, and a plea for humanity.

I estimate that we gave out 500 bottles of water and received 500 breathless “thanks” from physically tired and emotionally-strained marchers. While their mouths and noses were masked, their tear-filled eyes reflected the image of God. 
A wedding and three more baptisms are on the schedule in the coming weeks. 

I am telling you about these events because they illustrate what has been said more than once throughout the course of this pandemic, but bears repeating: the church does not need re-opening because the church never closed. We are still busy about the kingdom that Christ has secured and charged us to build.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German pastor and theologian who was martyred in the Second World War by the Nazis said, “The Church is the Church only when it exists for others… not dominating, but helping and serving. It must tell [people] of every calling what it means to live for Christ, to exist for others.” Put another way, William Temple, a second generation Archbishop of Canterbury, theologian, scholar, and advocate for social justice, said, “The Church is the only institution that exists primarily for the benefit of those who are not its members.” 

Frankly, it’s countercultural to think beyond ourselves to such a degree. To support an institution like your own parish financially, emotionally, and spiritually and to think all the effort should go elsewhere is tough. We want if not all, at least some bang for our ecclesiastical buck!

It’s challenging to think about the church as a missionary society rather than as a club, a comfortable place where we can go and be with like-minded friends every week. And there’s no denying that this is an important aspect of parish life — Jesus called disciples not in isolation but into a community. It is the Community of the Baptized that gives us hope and encouragement to live lives of propriety and faith and it is this community that offers care and help during times of crisis.

I remember a number of years ago, turning the page in a publication and seeing a photograph of an aged and waning John Paul II. The wind was whipping about him and his golden chasuble was unfurled in the wind. He appeared to be leaning into the force of the gale, but he wasn’t doing so of his own strength or power. He was clinging to and leaning on his crozier.  
We are called to lean into, not run away from, the world. How can the church, how can you, lean into a world of unrest, uncertainty, and precariousness? We do so by leaning upon Christ. In the words of St. Peter to the Church, “In your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to give an answer to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.” 

We lean on Christ. We cling to Christ. He, and the work he has accomplished, is the reason for the hope that is in us. The Community of the Baptized has a word to offer the world. Hope. 

We march into the world to offer Christ: crucified, buried, resurrected, and reigning. We march to the cadence of hope. 

Peter +

Photo Credit: Jordan Sanders, Katie Long
Gabriel Bouys/AFP/Getty Images 
THE ORDINATION OF DEON KEVIN JOHNSON,
11TH BISHOP OF MISSOURI

Saturday, June 13
11:00 AM (music begins at 10:50 AM)

Watch a livestream of the service here !

• As the coronavirus pandemic began, members of The Church of St. Michael & St. George quickly recognized that the African American co mmunity would be among those hardest hit. The church contacted Bridge s to Care and Recovery, a program which seeks to combat mental illness by teaching clergy in 65 African American churches in North City and County to recognize mental illness and to connect their parishioners with services. Bridges asked their Wellness Champions to tell us what we might do to help their congregations.

The answer was food for those who are having trouble feeding their families and more recently face masks for protection. For the past several weeks parishioners have been donating food and household supplies on Sunday afternoons and driving them to the food pantry of The Last Days Apostolic Church where District Elder May Johnson is pastor.

• Be sure to download the Sunday Morning Prayer service leaflet posted on the web so that you can participate in the liturgy. We join with one voice in the Worship of the living God.  

• Be on the look out for a phone call from Church Receptionist Becky Arthur or other staff members, as we update our Realm directory.